Supporting structure including an adjustable support



E. LITOSCH July 27, 1965 SUPPORTING STRUCTURE INCLUDING AN ADJUSTABLE SUPPORT Filed March 17, 1964 "lli S x *I WF 1i! A Xw 1 N i M 5| 8 N Il N. mi. mhl om m lo U- @N il oww N Q om sa m @E WT HMH .NJ Q r N k... l l rl Hui --.|M.-|...` v

United States Patent O 3,197,163 SUPPORTING STRUCTURE INCLUDING AN ADJUSTABLE SUPPORT Eugen Litosch, Bronx, N.Y., assigner to F. L. Smidth &

i Co., New York, N.Y., a 'corporation of Delaware Filed Mar. 17, 1964, Ser. No. 352,439 5 Claims. (Cl. 248-23) This invention relates to supporting structures for heavy loads and is concerned more particularly with a novel supporting structure including a support which is capable of sustaining a heavy load and can be easily shifted in position relative to the structure and secured in the new position without removal of the load. The supporting structure of the invention may be employed for various purposes and, in a typical application is used to support rollers which in turn serve to support rotary kilns and like apparatus. All the advantages of the supporting structure of theinvention are realized in its use with a rotary kiln of the type employed in the cement industry and, accordingly, a form of the structure suitable for that purpose will be illustrated and described in detail.

Rotary kilns are provided with tires encircling the kiln shell and each tire is supported on a pair of rollers which engage the tire on opposite sides of the vertical plane through the longitudinal axis of the kiln and are mounted in bearings on a structural steel base. Rotary kilns are ordinarily mounted with their axes inclined to the horizontal and thus tend to move axially downwardly with the resultant creation of large forces which must be counteracted to keep the kiln in proper position. Although one of the tires of a rotary kiln is employed as a thrust tire and two rollers engageable with the thrust tire on opposite sides limit the extent to which the kiln can shift axially during operation, the principal resistance to downward axial movement of the kiln is provided by mounting the supporting rollers in skewed relation to the tires. As the kiln rotates with its tires in contact with supporting rollers skewed in the proper direction, the rollers act through the tires to exert a force tending to move the kiln axially upwardly.

In order to prevent excessive wear or even breakage of skewed rollers supporting a rotary kiln, it is necessary that all the rollers share equally in supporting the kiln and in resisting its axial movement. The supports for the individual bearings of the rollers are adjustable relative to the remainder of the supporting structure and the ideal adjustment is that in which the supporting rollers share equally in sustaining the load and the forces tending to move the kiln axially are so counteracted that the kiln may be said to oat with no forces applied by the kiln to the rollers of the thrust mechanism.

Heretofore, the individual supports for the bearings for the supporting rollers of a rotary kiln have been provided with set screws mounted on the base and engaging the respective supports and the adjustment of the supports relative to the base to equalize the load on the rollers has been accomplished by turning the set screws manually by means of a wrench. However, as kilns have become progressively larger and heavier, the adjustment of the roller supports under load by turning a set screw by a wrench operated manually has become diiiicult and unsatisfactory.

The present invention is, accordingly, directed to the provision of a supporting structure for a heavy load including a support which can be readily adjusted in position under load by power means and can be quickly and easily secured in and released from a position of adjustment. The new supporting structure can thus be em- 3,187,153 Patented July 27, 1965 ICC is suitable for use with a rotary kiln and it includes aV base, generally designated 1G and formed of girders and beams and resting on a foundation 11. Two of the girders 12 of the base extend transversely of the kiln and each has a top flange 12a connected to a web 12b to a bottom flange 12o. At each side of the vertical plane through the axis of the kiln, the housing 13 of a bearing 14 for one end of the shaft 15 of a roller supporting the kiln rests upon the top ange 12a of a girder 12. The housing is secured in place on the girder by a pair of bolts 16 which pass through the base 17 of the housing and slots 18 in the top ilange 12a and are provided With nuts 19 engaging the under surface of the tlange. The bearing housings are adjustable in a direction transversely of the axis of the kiln and lengthwise of the slots 18.

The means for adjusting the bearing housings include a block 20 mounted on each girder near the outer end of each bearing housing and held in place by bolts 21 which pass through ears 22 on the blocks and the top ange 12a of the girder and carry nuts 23 engaging the under side of the top ange. To assist the bolts 21 in holding the block in place, the ears 22 preferably project below the lower face of the block and the bolt holes in the top ange 12a of the girder are sufficiently large to receive the lower ends of the ears, as shown at 22a (FG. 4). Each -block has an internally threaded passage extending toward the housing 13 and a set screw 24 with a non-circular head 24a is screwed into the passage with its head lying on the side of the block remote from the housing. The set screw .has an axial bore, in which is disposed a plunger 25 illustrated as comprising a pin 26 and a cap 27 of greater diameter than the set screw and having a shank 27a lying in the bore. One end of the plunger projects beyond the head 24a on the set screw and, at the other end, the cap lies between and in contact with the housing 13 and the end of the set screw. A hydraulic jack 28 of conventional construc-l tion is mounted on the girder 12 in a pocket 29 formed of plates welded to the top of the girder outwardly beyond the end of the plunger 25 and the jack has a piston rod 28a engageable with the end of the plunger 25. The rear wall 29a of the pocket forms an abutment, against which the cylinder of the jack is seated, and the wall is strengthened by brace plates 30 welded to the wall and to the top of the girder.

When it is desired to adjust the Vposition of the bearing housing by a movement toward the vertical plane through the axis of the kiln, the nuts 19 on the bolts 16 are loosened and the jack 28 is operated to force the plunger to the left, as viewed in FIG. 1. The head 27 of the cap of the plunger in engagement with the base 17 of the housing 13 transmits the force of the jack to the housing and, as the housing is shifted, the head of the plunger moves away from the adjacent end of the set screw 24. When the housing has been moved to the desired new position, the action of the jack is stopped and it holds the housing in place until the set screw can be turned up to make contact again with the head of the cap 27. The set screw then serves to hold the housing against outward movement and the jack can be restored to its initial position and either left in the pocket until again needed or removed and `used in the adjustment of some other bearing Y,housing of the kiln. If the required adjustment involves a movement of the bearing housing to the right, as seen in FIG. 1, the jack is removed and the set screw Ibacked of manually. This is not a dfiiicult operation since the movement of the housing is being effected by the Weight of the kiln.

In the example ofthe supporting structure illustrated in the drawings, the plunger 25 is. formed of' a pin 26 and a cap 27 and the use of the cap is desirable where the pin 26 is of relatively small diameter, so that the adjustment of the housing by the jack would cause la large force to be concentrated on a small area at the end of the base of the housing. In some instances, the use of the cap with the head of greater diameter than the pin is not necessary and the pan may be used alone. Also, if desired, the pin and cap may be integral instead of separate parts.

I claim:

1. A structure for supporting a heavy load, which comprises a base, a support movably mounted on the base, aV block fixedly mounted on the base adjacent to the support and having a bore in alignment with the path of movement of the support, a screw threaded in the bore and having an end exposed beyond the block and adjacent to the support, the screw having an axial passage through it, a plunger'in the passage having an k end engageable with the support, and hydraulic means on the base for moving the plunger endwise through the passage in the direction of the support to move the support along the base.

2. The structure of claim 1, in which the hydraulic means is a portable hydraulic jack.

3. The structure of claim 2, in which a fixed abutment isk mounted on the base and the jack includes a cylinder seated against the abutment and a piston in the cylinder having an exposed extension engaging the other end of the plunger. Y 4. The structure of claim 1, in which the plunger includes a pin in the passage and a cap of a greater diameter than the passage engaging the support and having a stem entering the passage and engageable by the end of the rod.

5. The structure of claim 1, in which the screw is longer than the bore through the block and has an end of non-circular cross-section exposed at the side of the block remote from the support.

References Cited by the Examiner UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,686,993 1o/2s VSuter 24:;*23 2,746,313 5/56 Roubai 74-397 2,889,685 6/59 Pickman 61-73 CLAUDE A. LE ROY, Prim-ary Examiner. 

1. A STRUCTURE FOR SUPPORTING A HEAVY LOAD, WHICH COMPRISES A BASE, A SUPPORT MOVABLY MOUNTED ON THE BASE, A BLOCK FIXEDLY MOUNTED ON THE BASE ADJACENT TO THE SUPPORT AND HAVING A BORE IN ALIGNMENT WITH THE PATH OF MOVEMENT OF THE SUPPORT, A SCREW THREADED IN THE BORE AND HAVING AN END EXPOSED BEYOND THE BLOCK AND ADJACENT TO THE SUPPORT, THE SCREW HAVING AN AXIAL PASSAGE THROUGH IT, A PLUNGER IN THE PASSAGE HAVING AN END ENGAGEABLE WITH THE SUPPORT, AND HYDRAULIC MEANS ON THE BASE FOR MOVING THE PLUNGER ENDWISE THROUGH THE PASSAGE IN THE DIRECTION OF THE SUPPORT TO MOVE THE SUPPORT ALONG THE BASE. 